


The Totality of Who You Love

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 16:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4884331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There's only one fair solution to a problem of that magnitude.  We arm wrestle for it.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Totality of Who You Love

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I was done writing for the night. And then Noah came back to me with another story to tell. It takes place in the future and I just decided to run with it. I've been doing that a lot where these characters are concerned lately.

“Mom!” Noah put his pencil down on the kitchen table in frustration.

“Inside voice kiddo,” Olivia put the lid over the spaghetti she was heating up. “What's the matter?”

“I can't do this anymore.”

“What?” she joined him at the table. “Is it fractions?”

Noah was almost three before he began to speak in full sentences. As his father liked to say, he never stopped talking after that. He had other developmental challenges as well but he was a hard-working kid who could tear through a book and rule a game of hacky sack. Olivia was used to seeing his frustration, she and Rafael both worked hard to help him focus it on helping with success instead of hindering it.

“It’s my name.” the eleven year old rubbed his eyes.

“I don’t understand what you mean?”

“Noah Porter-Benson Barba…really?”

“Noah, that’s the name on your birth certificate. It’s been your name for nearly 11 years. Today it’s bothering you.”

“I have to write it every single day.” He sighed. “I’ll have to sign it one day. What if I'm doing a big event for fans? It’s going to take all day to sign just once.”

“A big event for fans?”

“When I grow up I'm gonna write books about kids on a distant planet. Kinda like Star Trek but not. Then I can sell the rights and get a movie, video game, toys, and possibly a cartoon. I'm gonna be mega famous. Famous people don’t have four names, Mom. One name, maybe, but not four.”

“So you just want to go by Noah now?” Olivia tried but couldn’t suppress her smile.

“You're not being serious.” Noah said through clenched teeth. “This is serious.”

“I'm sorry, sweetie, it is serious. If it concerns you then it concerns me as well. What do you want to do about the long name?”

Noah had been thinking about it for some time but hadn’t talked about it with his parents. He didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. He'd known he was adopted for the longest time; that his original parents (as he called them) had passed away when he was a baby. Mom adopted him and when she and dad got married, Dad adopted him too. Everyone’s name was thrown into the pot so he would never forget where he came from. His birth certificate was one thing, having to write it on every homework sheet until he graduated high school was going to kill him.

“I'm torn between Benson and Barba.” He replied. “I don’t want to hurt dad…I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Noah, you could never hurt me.” Olivia caressed his face. “I'm sure dad feels the same way. It’s a name. It’s your name and we will let you make the final decision. Either way we’re going to love you and you will always be our son. There won't be any pressure from us about this.”

“Lucia and Hope have dad’s last name and I need to make sure that we’re always brother and sister.”

Lucia and Hope were twins, about to be six. Olivia and Rafael opted to have them via surrogate after Olivia had a healthy egg extraction. There weren't many so the doctor thought they might only have one real chance at success. They decided to go for it, implant them all. Whatever happened was going to happen. Twin daughters happened, which the couple never saw coming. They were as much of a miracle as their brother had been five years before.

“You will be, no matter what. It’s almost time for dinner,” she stood from the table. “Go and get washed up. Grab your sisters on the way down and make sure they wash both sides of their hands tonight.”

“I will.” Noah folded his worksheet and put it inside a folder. Then he crammed everything into his book bag. He knew one of his parents would check it before bed tonight so even though fractions were kicking his butt some he'd have to get back to it after dinner.

Olivia turned the fire on low as she stirred the leftover spaghetti one more time. It was just after six thirty, definitely time to eat. Often the family liked to eat together but she knew Rafael was going to be late tonight. The Barba kids didn’t like rumbling bellies even if that meant having to see Daddy at bedtime or even the next morning over breakfast.

***

“Don’t be alarmed, it’s just your husband.” Rafael slid into bed and immediately spooned behind Olivia. The warmth she radiated made him tremble. He released a happy sigh, kissing her shoulder.

“I was starting to worry about you. You’ve been grading for hours.”

“Those Con Law tests were hideous. I want to send a letter to every parent and show them just how much of their hard earned money is probably going to underground clubs and The Gap. I have nine students in my one section and 20 in the other. My mind is boggled at how some of them made it this far.”

“Don’t be too hard on them, Professor Barba.” She turned in his arms, smiling before giving him a kiss.

The couple spent about 20 minutes together tonight. By 8:30 everyone was in bed, thought Noah went under his usual ‘I'm not a baby’ protest. Olivia curled on the couch with a big glass of wine to watch _Spin City_ on Netflix. She only planned to indulge for an hour but she grabbed her husband on the way to his study. 

No work for an entire episode…she wanted some of his time. This meant they had to watch Rafael’s favorite episode, the one with Luke Perry. Olivia had no intention of letting that affect the plan. If quiet time with her husband meant that a former teen heartthrob would get about 40% of his attention then she could totally live with that. She liked that episode too.

“Mmm, I love when you call me Professor.” He trailed kisses across her throat. “Do you want to play ‘what do I have to do for an A’ tonight?”

“I wish I had the energy.” She hummed, running her fingers through his hair. “I really do. I'm up with the crows tomorrow, have a 9:30 doctor’s appointment, and then I'm probably at the squad until 7.”

“Wednesday is my late night. What's the plan for the kids?”

“After-school program until 5 and then Charmaine is picking them up and bringing them home for dinner. Noah knows to do his homework at school where he can get help with math if he needs it. He did well tonight; we only had four that he couldn’t wrap his mind around. I tried and we nailed one. He’s going to the tutoring center tomorrow for the other three.”

“Should we think about hiring someone private?” Rafael asked. He knew Noah really struggled with math. The recent diagnosis of dyscalculia helped in making sure their son got the right help for the right issues.

“For fifth grade fractions, I don’t know. There’s a parent-teacher night next month so we’ll talk to his teacher. Did you talk to him?”

“Mr. Levi, no, did Noah do something in class?”

“Not Noah’s teacher, Noah; did you talk to him tonight?”

“I got here 20 minutes before bedtime. I tucked him in and we chatted a bit about the possibility of sustainable life on Jupiter. Other than that, no. What’s wrong?”

“He wants to drop some names.” Olivia said.

“I don’t know what that means.” Rafael wasn’t sure how long this conversation would last since his wife was taking off his tee shirt. He couldn’t help but smile. It was only Tuesday but the couple hadn’t had sex since Friday night. If the romp in the shower counted, which it should since Rafael hadn’t had an orgasm like that in months, then Sunday morning.

“Noah Porter-Benson Barba is more than a mouthful so he wants to shorten his name. He's torn between Benson and Barba, doesn’t want either one of us to be hurt if he chooses one over the other.”

He was now taking off her shirt, which was infinitely more interesting than taking off his. He leaned to inhale the fresh scent of soap from her skin, placing kisses all over her bountiful breasts. Rafael had never in his life loved a woman’s body like he loved Olivia’s. She was firm, squishy, long, lean, and sexy, and the woman always smelled good. He never told her this, probably never had to, but he would occasionally spray her perfume on his pocket squares so he could carry her around all day. 

He missed them working together but life moved him past the DA’s office. His wife was now a Lieutenant, running the SVU squad at the 1-6. Rafael was a tenured track professor in the Political Science Department of the City College of New York. He also worked at the Feerick Center of Social Justice with professors and students from Fordham Law School. He was becoming a well-known name in the city when it came to law and political academia. His professional life was quite satisfying and home life with Olivia and their children was even better.

“There's only one fair solution to a problem of that magnitude.” He said, gently laying his wife on her back so he could touch the places that made her sigh. “We arm wrestle for it.”

“Rafi…” she laughed.

“No, it’ll be great. We do best two out of three, Noah can referee, and bada bing, we have our winner. All I ask is for a week to make weight.”

“He's serious about this.” Olivia arched her back as his hand slipped past the elastic in her pajama pants.

“It’s a big decision but we can make it a little less serious. All three names belong to him. Whichever one he wants to use won't make me love him any less. I think watching us arm wrestle will be a lot of fun. He can get his sisters to lay down bets…make it a real family event.”

“That’s why I love you.” She caressed his face while also lifting her hips. The pajama pants would be as gone as the tee shirt in a matter of minutes. “He was worried that one of us would be hurt by him making a choice and you're going to turn it into an adventure for him.”

“I mean I'm rooting for Barba but there's a soft space in my heart for Benson, so…” Rafael’s hands stroked across his wife’s warm thighs as he pulled them apart. He was already shimmying his sweats down as he settled his body there. “Would you like me to seduce you, Mrs. Barba?”

“Can you pull that off in 20 minutes; I already took an Ambien.” Olivia replied.

“I think we can do the short program tonight.” He pumped his cock though thankfully he was rarely at need for the extra help. “Leave out a sketch or two, cut the musical number, and get straight to the third act.”

“What comes after the third act?” she asked, lifting her hips as he slowly slide inside of her.

“The climax.”

“What do you know?” Olivia smiled. “That’s my favorite part.”

“Hold on tight, mi amor. You must keep all hands inside until the ride comes to a complete and satisfying stop.”

***


End file.
